Nanjing

In its present form, Nanjing (Nanking) is a Ming
dynasty creation. It was the capital of the first Ming ruler, Emperor
Zhu Yuanzhang (reigned 1368–98), who called the city Yingtianfu. During
his reign he commissioned a magnificent palace as well as a massive city
wall, exceeding 32 kilometres (20 miles) around, intersected by 13
gates. In 1421, however, his son, Emperor Yongle (reigned 1402–24),
moved the capital north to Beijing, for which he was to implement a
design that would eclipse Yingtianfu in grandeur. Nanjing was then given
its present name—the Southern Capital.

The location of the city is strikingly attractive, swept on its
northern flank by the Yangzi River and surrounded by mountains. The
river and mountains have made the city of strategic importance
throughout history. It has been the capital of eight dynasties, and the
setting of many bloody battles. The Rape of Nanking must be the worst
example of these bloodbaths in recent times. In 1937 the Japanese
occupied the city in the wake of the fleeing Kuomintang (Nationalist)
army, which had made the city its temporary capital after the Japanese
conquest of northern China. The occupation was followed by the brutal
massacre of an estimated 300,000 people, both soldiers and civilians.

Modern Nanjing

A great achievement of Nanjing is its bridge across the Yangzi River,
which was built despite the withdrawl of the Russian engineers who
designed it. The Yangzi Bridge, with its road and rail
platforms, is six-and-a-half kilometres (four miles) long, and was
completed in 1968. The bridge is a symbol of national pride and is
important in Chinese communications. Before its construction, all
north-south traffic through China had to make the crossing by ferry.

In the city centre, at 30 Meiyuan Xincun, travellers interested in Chinese communist history can visit Zhou Enlai’s house. Here the late premier lived and worked when negotiating with the Kuomintang after the defeat of the Japanese.

Another popular place to visit, particularly for Chinese tourists, is the People’s Revolutionary Martyrs’ Memorial.
It stands on the original site of the Rainbow Terrace, a place of
Buddhist pilgrimage. It is said to have won its name after the eloquent
preaching of a sixth-century monk so moved the Buddha that he sent down a
shower of flowers which turned to pebbles. These pretty agate pebbles
are collected, polished and sold as souvenirs. They are most beautiful
when wet—whether with rain or submerged in water in a small bowl.
Traditionally, the glistening pebbles are displayed along with New Year
narcissi or goldfish.

City Sights

The Nanjing Museum houses an excellent collection
representing more than 30 centuries of Chinese history. Here you can see
a jade burial suit, dating from the Han dynasty, which was believed to
prevent physical decay. Small rectangles of jade were wired together to
cover the body from head to foot, and a jade disc was then inserted into
the corpse’s mouth. Archaeologists discovered that the suit, alas, did
not have the desired effect. The exhibits of the museum have been
arranged chronologically, so visitors with little time can select the
dynastic period in which they are most interested.

The Museum of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is
fascinating for two reasons: its exhibits give a detailed picture of the
rebel state set up by Hong Xiuquan, the 19th-century failed scholar who
believed he could create the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, and it has a
fine Ming dynasty garden which has survived the political vicissitudes
of the city.

The old city walls, more extensive than anything
that remains in Beijing today, are worth exploring—perhaps as part of an
evening stroll. In the 17th century, these walls were the longest in
the world and today, even in a state of decay, they are still a
magnificent sight. The Zhonghua Gate and the Heping Gate,
built with a mortar mixture of rice-gruel, paste and lime, are the only
two to have survived from the Ming dynasty, and they vividly illustrate
the insecure nature of those times—when the possibility of insurrection
meant that hundreds of thousands of ordinary Chinese were made to
undergo forced labour.

Purple and Gold Mountains

East of the city are the Purple and Gold Mountains, which are home to
some of the most famous sights of Nanjing. One of these is the Observatory,
built on the summit of one of the peaks. It houses a fine collection of
astronomical instruments, including a Ming copy of a Han dynasty
earthquake detector. Also in the collection is a bronze armillary
sphere, designed by the Yuan dynasty astronomer, Guo Shoujing, in 1275.

The most visited sight in the Purple and Gold Mountains is Zhongshan Ling,
the mausoleum of Sun Zhongshan, better known in the West as Dr Sun
Yat-sen. He is considered the father of the Chinese Republican
Revolution. Dr Sun rose to prominence in the early years of this century
as an activist in the anti-imperial movement. Prior to that, he lived
in exile abroad (in 1896 he gained much publicity when he made a narrow
escape after being kidnapped by Chinese secret service agents in
London). In 1911, when news of the Qing overthrow reached him, Dr Sun
returned to China and became the first president of the new republic. He
did not have the support or personality to stop military leaders from
taking power into their own hands, and he died a disappointed man in
Beijing in 1925. You reach the mausoleum, which has a roof of brilliant,
sky-blue tiles, after a spectacular climb up nearly 400 wide granite
steps.

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